BBQ shelter building

Hi there STW Diyers. Looking for some quick advice on building a BBQ shelter. Started yesterday and got the basic frame up and concreted intothe ground. Today I need to cut and fit cross beams before making rails and glueing in upvc roof panels.

This is where I’ve got to so far:

This is what I’m trying to achieve – ignore the big section on the right – just looking at the left hand section with the plastic roof panels:

I’m ok with how to cut the cross beams with 45 degree angles ends, and cutting the slots in the bottom so they sit on the 2 beams I’ve got front and back. But how would you fix them in so they are tight? Some sort of screw / nail arrangement? Or glue of some description (guess that would need to be waterproof as there is a field behind the fence so it gets pretty windy)?

All suggestions welcome. Apart from telling me my front beam is ever so slightly higher at the left hand side that is!

Oh, and any useful tips on how to install decking too would be great. Few weeks away yet but I’m planning to level and deck the ground underneath the shelter. BBQs will permantly leave outside under he shelter with outdoor covers on. Will free up some space in my cluttered garage.

leave it as it is and get Max Whitlock round?

more helpful; I’d go for proper joints, not just slots in the cross members. It’s difficult to cut out the joints (crosslaps) accurately without the proper tools but you can do it with saw and chisel and time. Remembering you can always take more out, you can’t put it back in…..

[edit – you don’t have to go for full overlap, i’d do a bit of a slot in each so they are a tight fit in both axes and then a pair of big FO screws one in each axis as well]

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-cut-cross-lap-joints-in-wood

But i wouldn’t do it with the top rails already in place, I’d get them back down again and work on them at ground level and get the bits cut properly so they’re a good fit befor putting them up.

Just notch them mofos over the rails and then pilot hole and screw down through into the rails to hold or ‘toe-nail’ your rafters down. A bit like this.

I’d screw them down, but then I’m a screw guy…

If your posts are firmly concreted in, I’d say maybe build a frame off them to take the deck, supporting in the middle and around the area with posts sitting onto firm slabs?

Jigsaw a hole in your neighbours fence and use theirs!

We’ve had a bit of a debate with the neighbours about fence painting and each other’s colour going through to the other side so I’m not going near his fence!

I like the idea of notching and then screwing down from the top – I don’t have a large amount of woodworking skill to make joints or try and line things up. Those cross beams aren’t coming down either – they’re firmly screw on to the posts!

With the decking I hadn’t considered anchoring some of it to the posts but that might work with a few supporting posts concreted into the ground in the middle. How would you connect to the poss though so it was strong enough to support weight on the decking?

The width of the shelter is 280mm and front to back is about 150mm I think.

Why not ask the Jones’s next door to build it for you ?

How would you connect to the poss though so it was strong enough to support weight on the decking?

Steel brackets and coach bolts would be an easy solution.

The width of the shelter is 280mm and front to back is about 150mm I think.

I don’t think you’ll fit the barbecue in, not even our camping one would fit.

Worth pitching the roof opposite way to your neighbour, send the water into the field, otherwise it’s guttering or a waterfall of water to bring you cremated chicken back to the house.

Otherwise, what Kayak posted.

Sorry – sizes are 280cm x 150cm. Otherwise not even a camping BBQ would fit! Now got all the cross beams done and secure. Got the polycarbonate for the roof, but need to suss out rails to support it which will have to wait until next weekend, unless I feel inclined to give up Easter Monday to Diy as well as yesterday and today.

Going to have the roof tipped towards the back so it runs off into the field.

Funkydunc – if I was trying to keep up with the Jones’ I would need a much bigger structure and a much fancier BBQ. My cheapie 4 burner from Homebase / small Weber kettle don’t really compare to his fancy Weber BBQ).

Got to this stage yesterday:

Need more timber to make roof rails to hold the twin wall polycarbonate I have for the roof. Then just needs treating / painting a nice colour (wife’s domain) and then it’s onto the decking underneath the shelter. Could be interesting as never done any decking before.

How hot will the plastic roof get? It won’t end up dripping down and ‘seasoning’ the food will it?

Needs more pics of cute dog, sod the BBQ shelter

Next door don’t ever seem to have any dramas with condensation dripping off the underside of the roof and theirs is more boxes in. There’s about a 6 inch gap between the top of the fence and where the roof will come to for steam / smoke to escape from. Plus the sides and front aren’t sealed either. Although I’m considering a curtain type thing on the right hand side to keep more of the wind out.

Looks great!

Next door don’t ever seem to have any dramas with condensation dripping

I meant the plastic itself melting.

I have no idea how hot that stuff can get though, so it might be a stupid question.

Hmmmn, the roof is a good distance above the ground, and when you are cooking with a BBQ lid down you don’t get a huge amount of heat going directly up – I don’t think anything close to hot enough to melt polycarbonate (hopefully).

Gratuitous dog pic as requested above….

Bit more work and painting today, next job is cutting the timber I got today into rails to support the roofing. Quite pleased with how it’s come out so far.

Thinking he decking is going to be bigger than I originally planned and saw a bar on facebook that someone had made out of reclaimed pallets. Could be tempted to have a go at knocking something up like that….

why is the decking going to be bigger than originally planned, you mean youre going to extend it out from the structure?

either way, have you thought about a supported ring beam for it? thats what i did on my recent shed thread, pics of the ring beam and decking are on page 4 if that helps at all? i know i had concrete underneath anyway, but you could chuck a few slabs down and chock stones, more wood, anything lying around under the joists for support.

Wow, that’s an awesome shed / gazebo, looks professionally built!

I like the idea of the ring beam – my wife has decided the deck should not just be underneath the shelter, but stick out a couple of feet in front / to the side. I think I can make that work with a ring beam, then some short posts set in concrete to support a further outer layer of beams. I think I’m going to very slightly slope the decking to allow water to run off, but not sure which direction yet.

What size of timber have you used for the ring beam – is it something like 125mm x 45mm?

I think I can make that work with a ring beam, then some short posts set in concrete to support a further outer layer of beams. I think I’m going to very slightly slope the decking to allow water to run off, but not sure which direction yet.

thats exactly what i was going to suggest if you were coming out, apart from the concrete. i always thought id be going concrete but was advised against it on here as the posts would rot quicker in concrete. i went down around 18″, filled the bottom 2″ with gravel for drainage and just plopped em in and filled it up with the soil id removed. slight ‘chamfer’ to the soil build up so the rain runs off i spose too. i only concreted the end 2 posts as theyre next to the field and we get some big winds coming up over the cliff and neighbours have lost sheds before here. that wouldnt be a problem for you i assume so you neednt bother with concrete.

What size of timber have you used for the ring beam – is it something like 125mm x 45mm?

i used 4X2, so thats around 100×50 isnt it, but no harm whatsoever going 6×2.

We get some fairly high winds coming across the field behind my shelter – but the fence (with concrete posts) will take the brunt of that. The main posts for the shelter are postcreted in. Guess that will be the bit that rots first!

The decking just needs to be stable underfoot – di I guess a deepish joke with gravel at the bottom / tightly compacted soil would do the job. Why would wooden posts rot quicker in concrete than soil?

If 4×2 would do the job then it would be cheaper to use than 6×2 – and I only have a small amount of 6×2 left so need to order all the materials for the decking anyway.

Thinking about putting some uplit leds into the deck as a feature – need to work out wiring for that – both in terms of under the deck and getting power there from the house. On the latter point I think I need an electrician in.

Why would wooden posts rot quicker in concrete than soil?

i think its cos theres nowhere for the rain to go in a concrete hole, the water will stay around the post. in soil/gravel itll drain.

Thinking about putting some uplit leds into the deck as a feature –

thatll look nice. thought about doing that with mine but i knew itd hold up the build and i was impatient to just get the decking down. yep it can be done afterwards but easier to lay wiring etc before youre all built up. i may do it at a later date if ive got nowt on. er…so i wont then 😀

On the latter point I think I need an electrician in.

depends what youve already got, do you have any external power anyway? again i got good help from here on the leccy, i did already have a CU in the garage to come off tho and an armoured cable already sunk from previous greenhouse.
if youre going from scratch then yes id recommend a sparky.

The garage has bodged electrics from a previous owner I think. Seems to be one socket that is part of the main ring – then assorted lights that are all bodged off one cable that comes into the garage from the house somewhere.

I’d ideally like a new CU in the garage with feeds for sockets / and some outdoor power. Would like lights and an outdoor socket under the shelter – and an outdoor socket in the greenhouse would be a nice to have.

Definitely need an electrician in for that.

Interesting point on wood in concrete which makes sense. Wonder if it’s worth sealing round where the post goes into the concrete to reduce water getting in?

Wonder if it’s worth sealing round where the post goes into the concrete to reduce water getting in?

i wouldnt worry overly about it, lots of people have concreted posts and theyre fine. if you were going to try and improve it tho, i think rather than just blob silicone around it, if it were me id probably cut out a little groove all the way round the post just above concrete level and squidge the silicone in there so that the water definitely runs off and not between post and concrete. like i say tho, maybe a tad overkill, itll be reet 🙂

We get some fairly high winds coming across the field behind my shelter – but the fence (with concrete posts) will take the brunt of that. The main posts for the shelter are postcreted in. Guess that will be the bit that rots first!

Yep…. if it was me I’d think about just putting down some paving slabs and then using the metal mounts at the base. Use the concrete fence posts as extra security to take care of it being stable and not blowing away.

That way you can always move/raise the whole floor later by undoing a few coach bolts.and a car jack..etc and the posts won’t rot or at least use the long spikes and then make sure the bit with the wood is well drained.

(I’m saying this as someone who just spent Sunday and Monday digging out and then drilling and RDS chisel on postcrete) where the fence posts are all rotten.

Ah, so talking from personal experience! I’ve gone with concrete posts on all my fencing so hopefully I’ll never need to replace the posts again.

Maybe the paving slabs with the metal screw down post holders could work. I might price up that option. I need to work out what timber I need to buy next for the deck and get that delivered. Probably a month away from getting going on that as I have fencing to do next weekend (and putting up a huge new wooden gate) – then the rails for the polycarbonate roof.

Incidentally has anyone used thunderbolts into stone / brick here before? The company where I got the timber / gate from provided me with 3 to hold a post to the garage wall. The gate will then be hung off that. Apparently they go direct into brick with no kind of rawl plug which seems odd.

I used those Thunderbolts on a previous raised decked area to hold batons to the brickwork of the house – just drill a hole in the brick and wood then torque wrench them in. They didn’t budge at all.

Ah, so talking from personal experience! I’ve gone with concrete posts on all my fencing so hopefully I’ll never need to replace the posts again.

Yep… I really can’t think why anyone would do it for their own home .. I get why builders do it as its quick and cheap and someone else’s problem down the line.

I created a kids fort/swings/slides using the long spikes … I basically just used them to create a frame that I used 75mm fence posts for the frame (if you drop me a pm can email you photo’s) Its not going anywhere as it must weight 1/2 ton… but the spikes gave me a good firm base to start and then create the frame … the spikes are into soil but there is sand then stones around so it drains and the wood doesn’t stand in water.

When I built the bike shed I actually concreted first … and then again created the frame from 75mm fence posts all on breeze blocks so there is a clear airgap…

I used similar bolts on the fireplace … which is REALLY heavy being made out of railways sleepers … it wasn’t actually the plan I was going to use big fischer bolts (with the expanding head) but I stuck the bolts in just to see how it looked and even before they were all the way in it was going to take a crowbar to get it back off so I ended up just knocking it all the way in using a big mallet… and did the same with some 2″ thick oak shelving in the kitchen… you can get the injectable epoxy as well… I did but the things were so solid I never used it.

https://www.orbitalfasteners.co.uk/en/products/fischer-p380c-polyester-resin-380ml-art-no-59234?utm_medium=google_shopping&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=google_shopping&gclid=Cj0KEQjw8tbHBRC6rLS024qYjtEBEiQA7wIDeXE8QssKXXfrKQqnZK1EQirvRRu9xgypn9svEGj4IxYaAnyF8P8HAQ

The trick to stop your post rotting is to make sure the roof overhang and gutters etc are far enough away from the posts to keep them dry. A nice big roof with a good overhang will keep them out of the persistent wet. They might get the odd wind driven splash but that’ll be fine. If they were just dug into a decent well drained soil they will hold and do fine as long as the grounds not sloping down to the shed/ deck. Make sense?

Makes sense.

The ground slightly slopes down towards where the shelter is. Thinking perhaps I’ll put concrete into holes to make a secure foundation – then screw the posts with those metal bases to the concrete foundation (rather than using paving slabs as I have postcrete already so won’t need to buy it).

Timber is being delivered today to make the deck frame – went with 45 x 125 to be nice and sturdy. Not ordered be deck board yet but for 4.8 metre lengths of 28mm deck board ive been quoted about £11 which doesn’t seem too bad.

Looking online it’s been suggested either 40mm or 50mm spacing of the joists is sufficient. What have you guys done?

Also fitted my new gate with three thunderbolts – amazing that you just screw them into the wall and it feels rock solid.

Decking joist spacing? 400mm is ideal IME

I may have to put in an extra joist to achieve the 40mm spacing but I think I have spare timber (hopefully). Would rather have a more secure deck than one that is too flimsy!

Update – now mostly finished my BBQ shelter – just need to put in the polycarbonate roofing, build a worktop / bar down the left hand side and get the wiring put in to power a couple of outdoor sockets (for radio and beer fridge), uplight spotlights in the deck and some hanging lights that the wife wants in.

That looks great, well done great effort!!!

I thought you said it was a BBQ shelter, yet you appear to have a gas hob on it?

(nice job)

ha that’s killed any chance of any summer 😉

looks great though!

couple of things…

1) hard to tell from the photos but do the rafters overhang the boundary?
2) Is there any fall on that roof? will there be a waterfall into your neighbours garden in a downpour ? 🙂
3) I use my BBQ all year round, its in the back half of a carport under the same poly-carbonate sheeting that you are planning to use, FYI the roof does seem to get covered in grease from the cooking. (nothing a quick jet wash won’t solve though). I keep meaning to make some kind of chimney.

There will be a fall on the roof sheets – there are rails inside the joists angled towards the back. Yes they do overhang the fence – there’s a field behind and we own at least a foot of land behind the fence. Only issue will be when fence panels need replacing…..

There’s a gap between the roof and the fence that I’m hoping steam/smoke goes out of.

There’s a charcoal kettle BBQ under the Weber cover FYI! I use that for joints of meat and the gas for a quick bit of outdoor cooking or if I have loads of people to cook for.

That said, how many gas hobs have a flame directly under the food without a pan in between…..?!